Author's Note:
A little bad of sad news - no Octopath Traveler characters will be in this chapter, as I had originally planned. They'll likely have to be saved for the next week's installment, along with any other plans I had. Today is the beginning of a new story arc, and so this chapter is meant to establish a few plot points. You will see once you give it a read. Review time:
"Crazy Hand's been MIA in a while, don't you think? Is he maybe part of the Dimentio's revenge tour? Because Master Hand's been hanging out with Anna more."
Good thought, but no, Crazy Hand is not a part of the revenge tour. He's just chilling. Cloudenstein has a question about Kazuya:
"Serious question: Will Kazuya be banned, if ever? Maybe do to him what you did to Bowser during that Calamity Ganon arc. Ban him until he learned his lesson (which I don't think he will)."
Based on his actions alone, Kazuya does deserve to be banned. But as you said, he probably won't learn his lesson regardless. A JRPG enjoyer is inquiring about the previous chapter:
"...unfortunately, I have to address the elephant in the room. Where's the Xenoblade 1 & 2 cast during [chapter 345]?"
With all the other stuff going on, I had no room for the Xenoblade 1 & 2 casts. A meetup between all three casts is in order. On that note...
"Well, I hope one day you can have the Xenoblade cast meetup soon. And I got an idea of when it could take place. So, August 19 is Xenoblade Chronicles' 11th anniversary of its EU release, and we all know that the EU release is very important, because the game was "this" close to not getting an NA release. Thank God for Operation Rainfall. And good news, August 19 is on a Friday! It will be a perfect fit for a Xenoblade meetup chapter, don't you think? Also, a good fit because at that time we might already know more about the Xenoblade 3 cast, as much as we know the Xenoblade 1 and 2 casts."
Looks like that meetup will be happening sooner than expected! August 19 will be the target date. David with questions:
"With Akuma gone I guess more will soon follow? (TIME TO GO is really dictating who stays and who goes because of my suggestions pissed him off prior). Will there be anything Ninja Turtles related for the Cowabunga Collection on August 30? How soon will Jun Kazama show up to stop Kazuya from killing his son and father? Is Morgana in his cat form or other form when in the mansion? And finally, what are your thoughts on Triple H rumored to bring back the NXT Black and Gold logo, and rumored AEW talent that want to sign up with WWE?"
No other characters will be leaving in the near future. I may do something Ninja Turtles-related on August 30, though that's a big if. Jun Kazama may appear before the end of the year. Morgana is in his cat form. And I have a neutral opinion on Triple H bringing back the old NXT logo. As for the rumored AEW talent wanting to sign with WWE, I can only see a few making the cut. Some of them could REALLY benefit from the WWE Performance Center. If they can't do well in there...
Episode 346: Forgiveness
In her downtime, Rinea has taken up a lot of new hobbies. One of them was baking, and there was one thing that the noblewoman loved to bake the most - brownies! Every week or so, Rinea was baking brownies in the oven and often shared them with her neighbors.
That isn't to say that she leaves her husband, Berkut, out of the fun. Thanks to a little convincing, Rinea got Berkut to be her apprentice - her "extra set of eyes and hands" if you will. Alm and Celica even got involved with baking brownies, the former much to Berkut's great annoyance.
Rinea, Berkut, Celica, and Alm had baked a big batch of brownies today and invited their neighbors and folks from the mansion and tower to gobble down the many brownies they have made. For Berkut, it pained him greatly to see so many "common folk" in his living room, but for the others (especially Rinea) it was a very special get-together.
"Are you swallowing them whole?" Rinea asked Yoshi, as she had to monitor the green dinosaur's eating. Yoshi could eat the entire batch of brownies by himself without any supervision. "You're eating them so fast, are they even touching your tongue?"
"Yes," answered Yoshi, albeit with his mouth full; for an average person, a mouthful of brownies was a choking hazard but for Yoshi, it was fair game.
"Brownies is it?" asked Ryu, who only stopped by Alm and Berkut's house to see what the big hubbub was all about. "Pastry cubes made of sugar and fat? No thank you, I'll stick with my beef jerky."
"So why did you come here?" asked Berkut, who would be more than happy to see Ryu leave. Seeing the fighter standing around barefoot in his living room irked Berkut greatly.
"To socialize. And inform." As Ryu took out his stick of beef jerky, Mario entered Alm and Berkut's house along with Spyro and Hunter.
"Mama mia! Brownies!" exclaimed Mario, rubbing his hands with excitement when he saw the brownies that were neatly put on display. "I'm taking two pounds so I can parcel-a them up for Peach and she can eat-a them at her leisure later on, much-a healthier."
Berkut: Rinea insists that baking brownies together is "good bonding time", but I highly disagree. Any activity that has Alm's involvement in it is automatically ruined. Giving away our brownies for free to the poor folk is the worst part; they don't deserve any piece of our hard work.
"You're taking four?" Silas asked Kamui, who was putting several brownies on a plate. The cavalier definitely came just for the brownies, nothing else.
"Yeah, but two of them are for Jakob," replied Kamui as Mario, who was about to reach for a brownie, suddenly looked up with a thousand-mile stare. Jakob was a name that he hadn't heard in an awfully long time.
"Yeah, why don't you send that to his jail-a cell?" Mario quipped after breaking away from his stare, laughing his butt off as he stuffed brownies into the brown paper bags he took with him. Spyro shook his head, while Rinea and company didn't take action.
"Um, I'm just gonna hand it to him right now." Placing a napkin over her plate, Kamui exited Alm and Berkut's house as Silas followed after her.
"Heh, okay, weirdo." Mario now thought of Kamui as an even bigger weirdo than her own brother Corrin, as he continued to stuff the brown paper bags with brownies. Again, Rinea and the others were not taking action.
"Why is that, why is that weird?" Cloud came over to ask Mario, wondering why the plumber was quietly laughing his butt off.
"She said she was going to give-a it to him right now."
"She's probably going to because they talk to each other."
"Yeah, they used-a to."
"Jakob's back at the mansion."
"Oh, can-a you imagine?"
"Oh no...you don't know."
"I don't know. What?"
"You should probably just meander to the mansion; take a look. See if he's back."
After dropping off his brownies at his house, Mario went to the mansion to see if the Nohrian butler Jakob was actually back at the mansion. Accompanying Mario were Spyro and Hunter, who were interested in seeing Jakob in person - provided that he was even present.
"No way this Jakob guy is as evil as you make him out to be," Spyro said to Mario as he, the plumber, and Hunter were gathered in the foyer. Mario had spent his time lecturing his housemates about Jakob's past deeds.
"He conspired to ruin-a my wedding day, Spyro - he's worse-a than Hitler," Mario stated matter-of-factly as he led Spyro and Hunter to the place where Jakob would most likely be - Master Hand's room.
"So what does that make Dr. Eggman then - the Grim Reaper?" asked Hunter, the Flying Dutchman was apparently the cheetah's second guess. Mario and company soon reached Master Hand's room, hearing a conversation from behind the door.
"Hear anything?" Cappy asked Mario, who had his ear pressed against Master Hand's bedroom door; once he had heard enough, Mario pulled away from the door as he chuckled.
"Great practical joke Cloud, you got-a me this time," Mario laughed, convinced that Jakob wasn't actually at the mansion and that Cloud was merely pulling his tail. Spyro and Hunter exchanged weird looks with one another. "He really expected me to believe-a that..."
Mario would open the bedroom door and step inside Master Hand's room, where he was in for a shock. Inside Master Hand's room were Master Hand, Link, Zelda, Isabelle...and Jakob, who from the looks of it was getting along well with the others.
"And for that reason I..." Jakob said to Master Hand, only to look over and see Mario, Spyro, and Hunter standing near the door. Mario was pointing at Jakob with his arm trembling.
Master Hand It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And now Jakob is asking for forgiveness. Dr. Eggman did it, and now Jakob apparently wants to do the same.
"You...it's-a you!" Mario yelled at Jakob, who inferred that Mario was angry with him. Jakob expected to see Mario angry with him, all things considered.
"Is that the butler guy you were telling us about?" Spyro asked Mario as he and Hunter got on the offensive, with Hunter taking out his bow and arrow. "If you view him as a threat, then I'm in the same boat!"
"I don't even know this guy personally, but I'm just gonna assume that he has wronged me in the past," said Hunter, looking to strike Jakob in the knee with an arrow or two. Hopefully, the cheetah's aim won't be off.
"Hello Mario, it's been a long time since we last..." Jakob greeted the plumber, only for Spyro to charge into the butler. Jakob collided against the wall, as Link and to step in and intervene.
"Alright, enough, ENOUGH!" shouted Link as he kept Spyro and Hunter away from Jakob; Mario remained where he was, while Zelda and Isabelle helped Jakob up to his feet. "Jakob is not a threat."
"But he conspired to have Mario's wedding day ruined," Spyro explained to Link, believing that he and Hunter were just sticking up for Mario. "Don't know why I care so much, but..."
"Jakob stopped by to ask for forgiveness," stated Zelda, who dusted Jakob off as Isabelle checked to see if Jakob was aching anywhere. "Said that he learned his lesson while he was in jail."
"He also apologized for the shenanigans he pulled during the holidays in 2017," added Master Hand, amazed by how a lengthy jail sentence could make anyone have a gradual change of heart. "I should send people to jail more often...starting with Kazuya."
"We'll have to see about that," Link said to Master Hand, before approaching Mario to see how the plumber was feeling. "Sorry that we didn't give you a heads up, Mario."
"So this is legit?" Mario asked Link, unsure of what to believe - Jakob could be lying through his teeth, for all he knew. "Jakob is legitimately sorry?"
"He sounded genuine in his confession, so I believe he is. Hey, if Dr. Eggman can be forgiven for what he did, then so can Jakob..."
"You know what this calls for? A meeting," suggested Master Hand, believing that more people deserved to know about Jakob being a good guy. Supposedly. "Isabelle, tell everyone to meet in the lecture hall."
"We'll try and explain everything later," Zelda said to Mario, Spyro, and Hunter, as Isabelle hustled her way out of Master Hand's room to round up the troops.
Jakob returning to the mansion was obviously a big deal, and Master Hand wanted to treat it as such by having a large meeting in the lecture hall with the residents and tower denizens. Master Hand, Link, and Zelda were gathered onstage, with Jakob waiting patiently in the back.
"May I have your attention, everyone?" Master Hand asked the crowd, as the noise level in the lecture hall died down until it was completely silent. "We have a very special visitor today - some of you may know him better than others."
"Is it Jennifer Aniston?" Pit randomly guessed, thinking of the first person that came to mind. Nowhere even close, and absolutely no cigar.
"No, and she would never be here if nincompoops like you were around. I want to introduce to you all...or reintroduce, for many of you...a man who at one point in time was in consideration to be our butler."
"Aw man...don't tell me..." moaned Falco, who knew from the jump who the very special visitor was as he and many others were starting to sour already.
"Everybody please give a warm welcome to the one and only...Jakob," Link said with a slight hint of enthusiasm; after his cue, Jakob came out from behind the curtains and appeared on the stage. Jakob was treated to the sound of boos and jeers, which he honestly saw coming.
"Just so you know, he's at his funniest when you've given him five shots," Master Hand said to the crowd, specifically to those who weren't familiar with Jakob just to introduce the butler to the newbies. "And it also helps if you've had five shots."
"Why is Jakob back?" Joker whispered to Makoto, recalling the time when he and many others got Jakob arrested back in episode 107. The young man hoped that it would be the last time he would ever see Jakob at the mansion.
"Don't know, don't care," Makoto whispered back, trying to keep an open mind as the boos and jeers ensued. Jakob was a heat magnet, soaking in all the rampant negativity.
"Yes! Jakob is back, and not for revenge," said Master Hand as the booing and jeering died down, no thanks to Link and Zelda silencing the crowd. "For those of you who aren't familiar, I would like to introduce you to a man who needs no introduction, probably because most of you have done it with him. Just kidding he wouldn't be interested in any of you. In all seriousness, Jakob is a butler from Nohr who played a key role in ruining Mario and Peach's wedding day. He now has a changed heart and is looking for forgiveness. I would like to invite you to welcome him with open arms."
"What?!" shouted Knuckles, who couldn't forgive Jakob for how he played him and Shadow - and how he manipulated Rouge the Bat to do it.
"It's great to be among friends, but until then, I'll delight in the company of you peasants," Jakob said to the crowd, relieved that he was only visiting the mansion. Seeing some of the newer residents almost made him want to barf.
"Nice! We got burned!" cheered Banjo, who was a fan of Jakob already; that really made the bear the odd man out among the large crowd.
"You did! You got burned because Jakob's here!" exclaimed Master Hand, who was optimistic about having Jakob at his mansion. Provided that Jakob's change of heart was genuine. "He is turning in his condoms, for a condominium! Although he's probably going to have to use condoms from here on out."
"Link, Zelda, you approve of this?" a seething Shadow asked the Hylian couple, hoping that they had a much different opinion of Jakob than Master Hand did.
"Yes we do, we think Jakob has truly learned his lesson while he was in jail," replied Zelda, as she and Link shared some of the optimism that Master Hand was feeling. Much to Shadow's chagrin.
"You did approve it?" Knuckles asked Link and Zelda, with the latter nodding her head; how much confirmation did Knuckles and Shadow need?
"What don't you understand about the word approved?" Pit questioned Knuckles and Shadow, oblivious to how the red echidna and black hedgehog felt about Jakob's face turn. "It seems some of you don't know what the word approved means."
Pit: I have very little patience for stupidity.
There were two folks that were noticeably absent during the meeting - Shulk and Fiora. If the Master Hand of old was here, he'd be ticked that the Homs couple no-showed the meeting, disgracing the message of "participation matters". Nowadays, Master Hand didn't care as much whether anyone showed up or not. But regardless, Shulk and Fiora's absence was a brief concern...until they finally showed up.
"Sorry we were late for the meeting," Fiora apologized to Jigglypuff who let the Homs and Shulk in through the front door. "Shulk got stuck up in the tree."
"I'm such a goofball!" grinned Shulk, as he and Fiora were led down the hallway by Jigglypuff to Fiora's room. A huge surprise must be waiting for Fiora.
"Yeah, it took the fire department forever to get there." Fiora stopped speaking as soon as she reached her room, and saw a gift on her bed. "Oh, for me? Where did this come from?! Who did this?!"
"Jigglypuff Jigglypuff!" chirped Jigglypuff, encouraging Fiora to unwrap the gift; Fiora tore off the wrapping paper and ribbons and saw that her gift...was a new laptop! Fiora smiled with joy as she clutched the laptop close to her chest.
Samus: I got Fiora a new laptop because the old one she had sucked. I should know. And I don't wanna say the other one was old, but its I.P. number is one. *chuckles sheepishly* Right?
"Dang it Fiora, I didn't even put the name tag on it yet," said a certain bounty hunter, as Samus stood at the doorway with a name tag on her finger. Fiora ran over to Samus and embraced her with a hug.
"Thank you, Samus," Fiora thanked Samus, who had no choice but to accept the hug in this current situation. Had it been anyone else, that person would be dead on arrival.
"You're welcome," Samus returned the favor, plainly responding as she gently took Fiora's arms off of her waist. Samus doing acts of kindness were so rare, that a hug was always deserved. "My pleasure."
"Samus? You let some-a one hug you?" an astonished Mairo asked the bounty hunter from outside her room; the many attempts he attempted to hug Samus, Mario got slapped or worse.
"To be fair, I just helped someone out. It feels good."
"Nice. You know, I cleaned-a my daughter for like, an hour at four a.m. this morning, so..."
"So you know the feeling. Good for you."
Dovahkiin was a very raucous and violent roommate. He was a bloodthirsty man always looking for a fight, even if it meant getting into pointless fights with his roommate Gil. For months Gil has desired to have a new roommate - or have Dovahkiin be kicked out of the room altogether - and the de facto librarian hoped for his wish to one day come true.
"Special delivery for Gilgamesh," announced Master Hand as he showed up at Gil and Dovahkiin's room; Gil, who was about to head over to the library, saw Master Hand outside his room.
"I didn't order anything," stated Gil, who happened to see Jakob standing with Master Hand. Jakob's presence was of the most intrigue to Gil.
"And I don't have anything for you. But I do wanna talk to you about something. Jakob is fresh out of jail, with nowhere to stay temporarily...and we can't just sit around and wait for Peppy to die. Or for Kazuya to kill Heihachi."
"Well, there are a lot of available rooms on the fourth floor." Gil wasn't a fan of moving out, especially for a butler who was sticking around for a time being.
"Oh you wouldn't mind that will be relocating...it'll be Dovakhin who'll be moving out. You and Jakob will be temporary roommates!"
"Are you serious?! Thanks, Master Hand, it'd mean a lot." Gil was instantly enthralled, but Dovahkiin was the exact opposite as he rushed to the doorway after hearing the conversation.
"I have been staying in this room for over a year, Master Hand!" Dovahkiin boomed at the giant hand, refusing to give up his room without a fight. Preferably a fight to the death.
"Well, I was was consideration for being the mansion's butler," Jakob mentioned to Dovahkiin, bringing up a fact that would certainly put him high on Master Hand's priority list. "Plus my name's carved on the wall."
"No, it is not." But Jakob would make Dovahkiin look like a fool, as he moved the vanquisher's bed over to reveal his name written on the wall. Master Hand and Gil had to check for themselves, and there it was.
"Viola. There it is. Sorry Dovahkiin, but the odds are simply not in your favor." Not much that Dovahkiin could do to change the fact. Dovahkiin was so increased, that punching a hole through the wall would hardly calm him down.
Luigi: Mario and I saw Jakob's name engraved-a on the wall while we were remodeling the fifth-a floor of the mansion. We had meant to get rid-a of it. Clearly, one-a of us forgot. *looks around full of guilt* Couldn't have been me.
"I don't want to move out!" shouted Dovakhiin as he unsheathed his sword, looking to fight with Jakob tooth and nail for who would be Gil's roommate. Master Hand had to intervene real quick.
"Don't be a baby! Okay?!" Master Hand disciplined Dovahkiin, who grunted in defeat as he put away his sword and left the room. Dovahkiin walked down the hallway with his head hanging low. "This is only temporary."
Unsure of where to stay or even where to go, Dovahkiin wandered off to the mansion gardens to get a bit of fresh air. In the gardens, he found several large rocks on the ground, with moss on them.
"Hey, who do these rocks belong to?" Dovahkiin asked Aerith, who along with Alph was chatting with Zelda. Dovahkiin pointed at the rocks in question, which were scattered about.
"Oh, that's our Zen garden," answered Aerith; Dovahkiin thought very little of the Zen garden that was set up, as he stared at the rocks with disgust.
"What do you grow in this 'garden', bullcrap?" Dovahkiin kicked one of the rocks, stubbing his toe in the process. Fighting off the pain, Dovahkiin limped away as Knuckles, Shadow, Ashley, and Midna all entered the gardens.
"Hey, what's up guys?" Zelda asked Knuckles and company, seeing how united the four were. The only place where you would find more unity was at a sorority meeting, or even a secret cult hideout.
"Don't what's up us," Ashley hissed at Zelda, who was taken back by how the young witch was lashing out. Ashely seldom acted that with Zelda before. "You think you're so cute, with your pretty brown hair..."
"Woah, pull it back," Shadow said to Ashley, as he pulled the young witch away from Zelda before any nasty spells were cast. "Uhm, why did you let Jakob come back?"
"He's seriously awful," said Midna, cynical about Jakob's supposed change of heart; she was the kind of chick to tell if someone changed for the better.
"Master Hand thought that he was being upfront and honest in his apology," defended Zelda, although Shadow and the others aren't buying it. They took that as lip service. "And, honestly, he's been nothing but nice to me and Link."
"That's how he gets you to take off his panties," said Ashley, as Zelda was not a fan of the direction that the conversation was heading. Let alone how Ashley was acting.
"Why are you nodding?" Shadow asked Midna, whom he saw oddly nodding her head in agreement.
"United front..." answered Midna; someone sure was dedicated to getting Jakob off of mansion grounds.
"Okay, look. We can't kick someone out because we don't like him," stated Zelda, willing to give Jakob a fair chance since that's what any responsible leader would do.
"Right this isn't the U.S. Government," stated Alph, trying to interject himself in the conversation but only looking like an utter fool.
"What are you referencing?" Aerith asked Alph, who seemingly lost his trace of thought as he had no clue how to respond.
"Everything...everything." Either Alph was truly unsure of himself, or he was referencing a young adult novel. Or even a rock band from England. If you know, you know.
"Do any of you have any concrete complaints about something he's done?" Zelda asked the group, knowing that Jakob being removed could only be done with Master Hand's permission. "Aside from his past actions, which he already apologized for?"
"Well, he shoulder bumped into me," replied Knuckles, not saying when this particular incident occurred. "That's enough grounds for getting the boot."
Even with the drug dealer busted, Layton and Luke still had some unfinished business to handle in Seattle. Sonic and Lavenza both stopped by the hotel that the detective duo was staying at, as they were called there for a task of sorts.
"So you remember the house that Earnest fellow stayed at, right?" Layton asked Sonic, as he and Luke met with the blue hedgehog and Lavenza in the lobby of the hotel. "It's been recently foreclosed."
"Which is a good thing, right?" asked Sonic, his knowledge of real estate failing him at the moment as he looked towards Lavenza. "Is foreclosure good?"
"Good news for the new homeowner, perhaps. Digby is looking for someone to occupy the home...and we want you, Sonic, to help us find a man or woman worthy enough."
"The Happy Home Designers will handle the furniture and stuff," added Luke, and Sonic was totally cool with that - the less work for him, the better.
Digby: Earnest never paid back any of his interest. Would rather buy drugs from a schmuck off the street than pay for his home! But no matter, the new homeowner will fill up my pockets soon.
"So Isabelle's twin brother needs someone to take the house, eh?" Sonic asked with a smile, rubbing his hands with anticipation as he looked to impress Layton and Luke. And Lavenza. "Anyone you got in mind?"
"There is one person that we have in mind," replied Layton, saving Sonic a ton of work - once again, the less work, the better. "He lives outside of the hotel. You could make a solid pitch to him."
Gil was in a happy mood at the library, ecstatic that Dovahkiin wouldn't be his roommate (but only for the time being). At the library, Fox was seated at a table on his laptop, which he had gotten after he threw his computer out.
"Hey! Hey you guys!" the pilot excitedly shouted to the others in the library, gasping when he saw a video playing on his laptop. "The Armeth Regado video is up, gather around! Check it out! This guy's on a full beam reach." Not a single person moved, as a sailing video played on Fox's laptop. "They're hiking out like mad! Lock 'em up! Lock 'em up! Nice job!"
Suddenly the video stopped playing, and the laptop froze in an instant. Fox pressed a bunch of keys on his keyboard and even did a few shortcuts, but it wasn't enough to unfreeze his device.
"This laptop's a hunk of junk," sighed Fox as he slammed the lid on the laptop, disgruntled that he couldn't watch the rest of the video. But not all hope was lost for the pilot just yet.
"Hey, sailor! Come watch it over here!" Fiora called out to Fox, as she patted her new laptop. Entranced by Fiora's laptop, Fox went over to where Fiora was seated to get a first-hand look.
"Where did you get this?!"
"Samus gave it to me!"
"This is a sick laptop! Adela has this laptop!" Fox saw Samus enter the library, and approached the bounty hunter the moment she stepped through the door. "Uh, Samus! What does a guy have to do to get, ahem, one of them?" Fox asked Samus in a fake British accent, pointing at Fiora's laptop.
"You have a laptop, Fox," stated Samus as she stepped past Fox, walking to one of the bookshelves. She had no time to be bothered - which was usually the case ninety-nine percent of the time.
"Yeah, but if you donated my laptop to Africa, it would become world-famous as the slowest laptop in Africa. So..."
"Okay, but listen. I just don't have the budget for it. Okay? Fiora needed a laptop so I got her one."
"Well, Fox McCloud needs a laptop. And, I mean, it's just kinda a coincidence that Krystal needs a new laptop too, but..."
"Yes, but Fiora has been asking for a new laptop for far too long. If I get you a new laptop I'll have to get one for everyone else. For Pit, for Yosuke, it would be crazy."
"So something good happening to Yosuke is crazy now?" an overhearing Yosuke asked Samus; the young man deemed himself to be one of the more unfortunate members of the mansion. Most of the time, it was his fault.
"I'm not asking for one, I need it," Fox stressed to Samus, as he was starting a scene in the library. Gil had to shush Fox to keep the noise level down.
"If you're just handing them out, I want one too," Rosalina approached Samus, wanting in on the laptop gravy train.
"Rosalina, nobody is handing anything out." Bad news for Rosalina, as the mother of Lumas walked away from Fox and Samus despondently.
"See, this is what I'm talking about," Samus whispered to Fox, keeping her voice low as she was being super mindful of Gil.
"What are you gonna play mange on faster?
"Sorry, Fox." Samus walked away from Fox, who stomped his foot angrily.
Jakob stopped by the kitchen, where he saw Pyra and Mythra cooking up a storm. Well, only Pyra was cooking up a storm; Mythra was trying her hardest to keep up. Present also in the kitchen were Star Wolf members Andrew and Pigma.
"Hey, what's going on you two?" Jakob asked Andrew and Pigma when he entered the kitchen, wondering why the pilots were just standing around. "I see that Master Hand has let in a bunch of oafs into this abode..."
"We can attest to that," giggled Pigma as he nudged Andrew in the side; Andrew, who took offense to what Jakob said, was frowning at Pigma.
"So, Jakob, I heard that you have a son," Pyra said to the butler, striking up a conversation while she was cooking some beef stew. "You must be glad to spend time with him now that you're out of jail."
"I don't know, I love him and all, but from what I've gathered he's turned into a pest," stated Jakob, as Pyra was alarmed to hear Jakob speaking so bluntly about Dwyer. "Mostly he's great, but some days he acts like Niles. Leaving him in Niles's care was a mistake."
"Well, some boys go through a phase," remarked Mythra, thinking that Dwyer's hormones were the reason for his sudden change. Maybe Dwyer was just growing up.
"Hey, your life sounds so insane!" Pigma suggested to Jakob as he wrapped his arm around the butler. "You should write a book!"
"Do you even know how to read?" Jakob asked Pigma as he gently took the pig's arm off of him.
"I do know how to read. A better reader than Pit!"
"Yes, You know how to read...a menu, perhaps." Jakob left the kitchen, as Pigma laughed with uncertainty.
"He's right. I mean, I could lose some weight." Pigma patted his stomach, as his belly was partially exposed.
"Pigma, in sumo culture, you'd be considered a promising up-and-comer," Andrew said to Pigma, while also seriously doubting the pig's sumo wrestling skills.
Layton and Luke led Sonic and Lavenza out of the hotel, and to...a dumpster. The hotel's dumpster. Which was smelly and rotten and had flies flying above it. Sonic couldn't help but be skeptical.
"Trust me, you'll find some value in this person," assured Layton, as the sound of someone rummaging through the dumpster was heard. Layton couldn't be serious, but yet he was.
"Hard to find anything valuable in there," remarked Sonic, hoping that Layton was pulling his tail; by no means would Digby let a street rat take the house. Layton banged on the dumpster with his fist, as the rummaging stopped.
"Oh, Conker! We have arrived!" All of a sudden, a red squirrel poked his head out from the garbage after hearing Layton's voice. This squirrel wore a blue hoodie and was stuffing a cheeseburger into his mouth.
"Hello, Mr. Top Hat," the squirrel greeted Layton, as his eyes soon shifted to Luke...and once his eyes shifted to Sonic, the red squirrel was almost beside himself. "Wowza! It's Sonic the Hedgehog!"
"No way! It's Conker the Squirrel!" exclaimed Sonic, never imagining in a million years that he would meet Conker at a dumpster of all places. Conker must've fallen on some hard times.
Layton: Every now and then Luke and I hear the hotel workers complain about a "weird noise" coming from the dumpster. After running a small investigation, we discovered that the noises came from Conker, who was going through the trash scouring for food. For food! It's clear that Conker's way of living is...less than ideal.
"A fine pleasure this is!" squealed Conker as he hopped down from the dumpster, extending his hand to Sonic. Conker's hand was smelly, but Sonic kindly shook it anyway. "This is quite the meeting."
"I'll say," smiled Sonic as the handshake ended, with Sonic making a mental note in his hand to wash his glove thoroughly later today. "Is this...is this like your home, or...?"
"More like my primary food source." Conker reached into the dumpster and pulled out a half-eaten chili dog, swallowing it whole much to Sonic's disgust. "Ain't got no place to live, so I make do with what I got."
"Treat him out to lunch," Lavenza whispered to Sonic, wanting the blue hedgehog to make a great lasting impression on Conker. Conker sure could use one.
"Hate to burst your bubble, Conker, but eating from the trash heap isn't healthy. How about the fellas and I take you out to Shaker + Spear?" You best believe that Conker was hooked by the offer, as his eyes went wide.
"You're gonna take me out to lunch?!" exclaimed Conker, as he ran up to Sonic and gave him a hug. The stench from the dumpster was all over Conker, which made Sonic hold his nose. "Thanks, Sonic, you're such a pal!"
"Okay, that's enough!" said Sonic as he forced Conker to end the hug prematurely; now Sonic had to take a shower to make the stench go away. Too bad that he hated water.
Samus stopped by Fox's house, having a small favor to ask of Krystal. When the bounty hunter was let inside by Krystal, guess what was the first thing she saw when she stepped into the living room?"
"What the heck! Why do you have Fiora's laptop?" Samus angrily questioned Fox, who was sitting at his desk while using Fiora's laptop. Fox was acting super nonchalant about it, too.
"It's crazy, right?" Fox asked Samus, using Fiora's laptop like it was no big deal. "Fiora just wanted me to have it, so we switched." Samus looked toward Krystal, amazed that the vixen allowed her husband to get away with the switcheroo.
"He claimed that Fiora felt that he really needed a new laptop, and he knew so much about that one," Krystal explained to Samus, who wanted to believe that Fiora didn't yield her laptop so easily. Samus knew Fiora better than that.
"That is not up for Fiora," stated Samus, who now had a major bone to pick with Fiora due to the Homs being a pushover. "The laptop was for her specifically! Okay? It's not hers to give away."
"Samus, when I'm freaking out, I just sorta step back and..."
"I'm not freaking out, Fox."
"...take a few breaths, and then I ask myself: Is this worth freaking out about?"
"Fox, why should she have your crappy laptop?"
"That's interesting. So you also think my laptop is crappy?"
"Switch the laptops back Fox."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Samus! Come on!"
"Now, please."
"Fine! I'll switch it back..."
During his return to the mansion, Jakob learned a lot about what has happened while he was in jail. New people became residents. A giant tower was built for the assist trophy folk. The mansion got into a feud with the All-Star Manor. Cloud embarked upon a project to have this universe's Aerith revived. And a bunch of people got married. Take Chrom, for instance.
"So you and Raven are married to each other now, right?" Jakob asked Chrom, who was in the gaming room playing a game of pool. "How's the sex?" Chrom would ignore Jakob's question, as he struck the cue ball with his pool stick.
"Hey Jakob, I made you some hot chocolate," Knuckles approached the butler as he carried a cup of hot chocolate. The fact that the hot chocolate was in a mug that read "Too Sassy For You" was off-putting to Jakob.
"Why?" Jakob had reservations about trying out Knuckles' hot chocolate; he tasted some nachos from the echidna before and was left with an upset stomach.
"'Cause I wanna let bygones be bygones. Show you I'm cool. You're the guy looking for acceptance. It's cold out. I made too much. I got this awesome hot chocolate recipe from my girlfriend."
"That's a lot of reasons," said a suspicious Shadow, who was chilling by himself in the gaming room with his back against the wall and his arms crossed. "Also, it's not cold - summer isn't over."
"Shut up, Shadow!" After snapping on Shadow, Knuckles reverted his attention back to Jakob as he handed him the hot chocolate. "Drink it!"
"I think I'll pass," Jakob kindly turned down Knuckles' hot chocolate offer. "The only hot chocolate I'm into is the one available in Nohr." Jakob gave a wink to Knuckles, who was about to force feed the butler the hot chocolate only to be interrupted by Shadow.
"Can I talk to you a second?" Shadow asked Knuckles before bringing the echidna out of the gaming room; with Knuckles gone, Jakob returned to watching the pool game.
Sonic and company brought Conker to Shaker + Spear, which was primarily a seafood restaurant. Everyone was seated at a table, waiting to make their order.
Sonic: Why did I even suggest Shaker + Spear, I don't really care for seafood. My aquaphobia can really get the best of me sometimes; like, I can barely watch The Little Mermaid without getting the creeps.
"You all ready to order?" a waitress asked Sonic and company as she stopped by their table. She had her pen and notepad ready to go.
"I will take the charred octopus," said Layton; the charred octopus was one of the more expensive items on the menu, at twenty-three dollars.
"Pulpo croquettes for me," said Luke; the young detective was about to receive a helpful serving of takoyaki sauce.
"One ranch hangar steak, please," said Lavenza; it was a very small steak, so Lavenza could handle it with no problems.
"...just give me the Srf Wagyu Smash Burger," said Sonic; only an amateur like Sonic would have a burger at a seafood restaurant.
"What kind of drinks do you have?" Conker asked the waitress, believing that his choice of beverage was of more importance than his meal. That got Layton to furrow his brow.
"Let's keep an eye on him, shall we?" Layton said to Sonic and company, wanting to make sure that Conker didn't delve into bad habits while in public.
Shadow brought Knuckles to his room at the tower, curious as to what kind of stunt the echidna was trying to pull. Knuckles no longer had the hot chocolate on him, after he was forced to pour it out.
"So, this hot chocolate thing..." Shadow said to Knuckles as the black hedgehog and echidna were gathered together in their room.
"None of your business," responded Knuckles, who was salty that he had to pour out that hot chocolate. To be so close, yet to be so far...
"Well, you know you can't actually poison him."
"It wasn't poison Shadow, it was a laxative. People take laxatives all the time. This is just, a lot more of a laxative. Let me handle this."
"I really think we should join forces on this one...what do we think, what would drive him crazy?"
"I know! Pepto-Bismol, in his hot chocolate."
"You've gotta stop with the hot chocolate stuff. I was thinking we can stuff him in some closet somewhere and leave the door open but only two inches, then he can see everything outside but he can't ever go out."
"Ooh, does Edgar Allan Poe know about that one? So sinister! That wouldn't annoy a person at all! Where do you come up with this stuff?"
"Trying not to be too violent...cut me some slack. Well this isn't my best, but call a local radio station, say that we're the tour manager for Justin Bieber or some dumb singer like that, and we're giving away free tickets, we give him a number to call for the tickets, and it's a number that we..."
"Who is Justice Beaver?" interrupted Tingle, who was seated outside Shadow and Knuckles' room eavesdropping on the entire conversation. The wannabe fairy poked his head in through the door.
"He...it's a crime-fighting beaver." Shadow's explanation worked like a charm for Tingle, who pulled away from the door as he was fully convinced.
"Why don't you write up your best forty ideas and give them to me?" Knuckles suggest to Shadow, terrified about what other grand ideas the black hedgehog had for owning Jakob. "Can you do that?"
"Absolutely, I'll provide you a hundred ideas."
"Yeah, write up your list of one hundred, edit it down to your top forty, then give it to me, and I'll read it over."
Samus was walking through the hallway, minding her own business when she came across Fox standing alone near the meeting room. Samus could tell by the look on Fox's face that he wanted to speak with her.
"Samus, can I talk with you in private?" Fox asked the bounty hunter as if he expected Samus to answer yes while putting up nary a fight.
"I don't know if there's really a private place in this mansion," replied Samus, who always felt that her privacy was violated with Master Hand lingering around.
"Well they put a sign-up sheet on the meeting room and I signed us up for three mods. A mod is five minutes. And it started two minutes ago."
"You did that?" Samus wished that she had known about this sign-up sheet sooner; she'd stay in the meeting room all day if it meant getting away from everyone else. Save for a very small few.
"Can we talk about this in the meeting? Because we're a little late."
"Okay." So Samus followed Fox into the meeting room, staring at the sign-up sheet on the table with wonder. "When did people sign..."
"Mind if I close the door?" Fox slammed the door shut, as he and Samus embarked upon their meeting without any interruption. "What you did at my home, earlier, was totally un-cool."
"Well, what was I supposed to do, let you walk all over me?"
"You humiliated me in front of my wife! And Marcus!"
"Okay, well I didn't think about it like that. It's just...I can't do anything about it. I can't replace that one unless that laptop breaks."
"I mean, it's pretty broken already."
"Yeah, well if it breaks all the way I can get you a new one."
"Pretty sneaky sis." Fox looked at Samus knowingly, as there was knocking on the meeting room door. Fox and Samus's meeting was now cut short, as Iori stepped inside the room.
"Hey cats, we got a jazz session in mod six, nine, and twelve," Iori said to Fox and Samus, who both exited the meeting room while Iori and King K. Rool entered holding saxophones. Samus stared at the sign-up sheet in awe.
Sonic and company were enjoying their food at Shaker + Spear, eating to their heart's content. Conker, who had ordered a pan-seared salmon, was all done with his food as he patted his stomach.
"I haven't eaten like that in a long time," the squirrel remarked, before letting out a loud burp that was loud enough to accrue the attention of everyone in the restaurant. Conker laughed sheepishly. "Excuse me, hehe..."
Sonic: *in the Shaker + Spear bathroom* Think I'm ready to make that pitch to Conker. I gave Digby a call (huge shoutout to Isabelle for texting me his contact information), and he's gonna stop by and...
Man: *approaches Sonic* Um, do you mind? You're standing in front of a stall.
Sonic: I see that urinal over there's not taken.
Man: *grumbles as he walks away*
Sonic: But yeah, it's gonna be epic.
"Enjoying your food, everyone?" the waitress from earlier asked Sonic and company as she stopped by their table. "Anyone care for a refill?"
"Do you have any bubbly, my fair lady?" Conker asked the waitress, who glanced over at Sonic and the others and saw them all shaking their heads.
"I'm afraid that we're all out...but you can get a refill of Sprite if you like!" Not caring for a refill, Conker snapped his fingers in disgust as Sonic let out a sigh of relief.
Surprisingly it didn't take him that long, but Shadow came up with a hundred ideas to present to Knuckles. In fact, it was well over a hundred, if the packet of paper was any indication.
"There are over four hundred of these!" Knuckles said to Shadow, as he and the black hedgehog reconvened in their room. The echidna took note of how thick the packet of paper was.
"Yeah, I couldn't cut it down," admitted Shadow, who didn't know how to narrow down his choices; he was coming up with the vilest stuff that he could think of while operating under a non-violence handicap.
"They're all good. So good! Number three: eat a frog. That sounds promising. Number four: eat a dog. I don't know, um, from a practical standpoint...
"One thirty-five. Did you like one thirty-five?" Taking a look for himself, Knuckles furiously flipped to page 135 of the packet.
"Eat a brog. Maybe it's because I didn't understand it. I just had a couple of notes, let me grab a pen."
As Samus stated, the only way that Samus would replace Fox's laptop is if it were to break. So Fox went back home and hopped on his laptop, clicking on random things as warning boxes popped up on his screen.
"Allow all cookies? Why certainly!" exclaimed Fox as he flicked away, before pouring coffee on his keyboard. Krystal quietly stood behind Fox, watching her husband losing his marbles. Pop-ups? Yes, please! Bit torrent streaming from a Somalian music website? Yeah! Why not?" Then Fox started speaking in a mock baby voice... "Oh, I hope you don't get sick Mr. Laptop." ...before switching it up to a laptop voice... "Why are you doing this to me, Fox?" ...and then switching to his normal voice. "Because I hate your programs!"
While not everyone was embracing Jakob, Master Hand was convinced that the butler was a new man. He was delighting himself in the presence of Jakob, as Jakob was having a word with Iori
"Nice-looking instrument you got there," Jakob said to Iori, who was showing off his saxophone to the butler to make a good first impression on him. Iori smiled in response.
"And you made Iori smile, that doesn't happen often," Master Hand said to Jakob; Iori stopped smiling in an instant and walked away, wondering where Master Hand has been. "I forgot that you're very charming. That is something you use on the higher-ups."
"The higher-ups? As in Link and Zelda?" Jakob had already charmed Link and Zelda in his earlier confessional, and he hated the thought of doing double duty.
"I don't know, Zelda mentioned that there were some complaints. And that you had said some things about Pigma."
"Princess Zelda said that? Must be a falsified story meant to smear my name."
"I guess you said something weird about your son, Dwyer?"
"Pyra asked me, Master Hand! It would've been rude not to answer."
"You've been in jail for a long time. And you've been an outdoor cat - to the outside world. And now you have to be an indoor cat, so you can't be peeing all over the walls."
"Master Hand, can I be open and frank with you? I've been in jail for far too long. But, I want to connect with my son. And it's not right to call him out in front of strangers."
"No, it isn't."
"You're right. I have to watch my behavior.
"Yeah, a little bit."
"Don't give up on me."
"I won't."
Once Sonic and company were all done eating, there was only one thing left to do...pay for the meal. Layton would be the one to do the honors, taking out his credit card as the waitress stood by.
"Better make good use of this before it expires," grinned Layton, as the expiration date on his credit card was drawing near. Sonic put his hand out on Layton's arm before Layton could hand his card to the waitress.
"I got this, professor," assured Sonic as he took out his own credit card; Layton happily put his card away as Sonic handed the waitress his card. "Mind if I leave behind a $50 tip? Ten bucks for each of us."
"That is fine with me," the waitress responded, surprised by Sonic's generosity as she swiped the hedgehog's card. The others were surprised as well, as Sonic gave them a thumbs up.
Luke: Sonic paid for our meal! I would ask someone to pinch me, but I've had Layton pinch me enough times.
After Sonic was done paying for the meal, Digby entered Shaker + Spear and saw Sonic and the others. Adjusting his tie, the Shih Tzu went over to the table.
"Fancy seeing you here, Digby," greeted Layton, as he expected to see Digby later during the process of landing Conker a new home. Little did he know...
"Hi everyone! I see that you all enjoyed your lunch," Digby said to the group, seeing all the clean plates on the table...well, except Sonic's plate. Still had a few fries left.
"Technically this is our dinner," Luke informed Digby, who now felt like an idiot. Not a good look. "Dinner here is served after 5 o'clock; it's past 5:45 now."
"I stand corrected..." Recollecting his dignity and pride, Digby recalled what he came to Shaker + Spear for. And it was something special. "...anyway, I have been told that Sonic has made a...squirrely friend."
"That's me, that's me!" squealed Conker as he raised his hand up high; Digby recognized the squirrel right off the bat. "I'm the squirrely friend!"
"His name is Conker," Lavenza introduced Digby to Conker, whose excitement was through the roof. "He used to live in a dumpster...or so I believe."
"A dumpster?! That's no place to call home." Digby dug into his pocket and pulled out a key...but not just no ordinary key. A house key. Conker's eyes nearly bulged out. "Luckily I have the right solution..."
"Oh snap! A house key?!" shouted Sonic, playing along as he caused a small scene. All eyes were on Sonic. "Who could it even be for?"
"Wanna do the honors?" Digby asked Sonic as he handed him the house key; Sonic accepted the key as he stood up from his seat and faced Conker.
"Conker, I've known for like, a day, but I can tell that you've hit some hard times," Sonic said to the squirrel, who at this point was unable to contain any of his excitement. "Being homeless, eating food from dumpsters, looking for any reason to get drunk..."
"You say the third part like it's a bad thing," said Conker, who personally saw nothing wrong with being drunk; to him, any day where he was wasted beyond relief was a good day.
"...but wait! What if there was one thing that can make all your problems go away? Minus the drinking part." Sonic held up the house key, as he had Conker perfectly wrapped around his finger.
"Give it to me, GIVE IT TO ME!" Conker was so eager to have that key, that he would literally bite Sonic's hand off if it meant getting his hands on it.
"How would you like your very own house?" Sonic was about to hand the house key over to Conker, as he held the object up high. "All you have to do is say the magic word and..."
"Please! Thank you! I don't care which one is which. I accept your offer!" With Conker unable to hold it in much longer, Sonic dropped the key into the squirrel's hands. The crowd applauded, as Conker held the key close to his chest.
"Bravo, Sonic, bravo!" commended Layton as he, Luke, and Lavenza applauded Sonic's pitch to Conker; Digby was applauding as well, amazed that everything turned out better than expected.
Digby: We didn't rehearse that. Everything that Sonic said came from the heart or something like that. All I know is that if it was me pitching to Conker...the result would've been different.
"How about I tell you a little about your new house," Digby offered to Conker, who was more excited than a kid on a sugar rush. Conker was jumping up and down in place. "It has a garage, a spacious backyard, a guest room..."
"A guest room? So anyone is welcome to stay with me?" Conker asked Digby, likening the idea of having some company over while he got used to his new digs. The squirrel turned towards the first person he had in mind, Sonic.
"No thanks, dude - I got too many obligations back at home to crash your place," Sonic said to Conker as he held up his hands, with Conker looking sad. But then Sonic recalled a visitor at a mansion that Conker might take a liking to. "But fortunately for you, I know a guy..."
Master Hand knew that Jakob had some amends to make, and so he brought the butler to the gaming room to make some apologies. He would've organized an impromptu meeting in the lecture hall, but everyone was too busy doing their own thing to even care.
"Okay, everybody. I need you to see this," Master Hand said to the crowd in the gaming room, as everyone stopped what they were doing and gave their attention to Master Hand. "Because maybe there is somebody here that you all underestimated, who will surprise you. Jakob is going to apologize. Pigma! Front and center, come here."
"I got a game of darts to win here," Pigma said to Master Hand, as he was playing darts with Andrew. The pilot stood where he was, not moving an inch.
"Pigma, we know that you are just trying to save face, we know that you are hurt and embarrassed."
"That's silly. If anything, I should be apologizing to Jakob. Because we all know I can dish it, as good as I can take it."
"Okay, sweetie, no. You shouldn't be apologizing to Jakob. That doesn't make any sense. Are you ready for this? Are you ready for this? Gentlemen, start your engines!"
"I'm sorry if you were offended by my comments earlier," Jakob apologized to Pigma, as he was given the floor to atone for his past actions. But Pigma wasn't buying Jakob's apology, not one bit.
"Well, as I said, I wasn't offended, but I'll stand here for the big show," Pigma said to Jakob, still not moving an inch as he didn't have it in him to accept Jakob's apology. He considered himself a truly thick-skinned individual.
"Pigma, do you accept the apology?" Master Hand asked the pilot, wishing for Pigma to accept Jakob's apology already so that he and Jakob could finally be on equal terms.
"Don't do it, Pigma, that's the fake kind of apology," Shantae encouraged the pilot, as she saw right through Jakob; her sixth sense told her that Jakob was faking it to gain more of Master Hand's trust.
"Go to your room..." Master Hand commanded Shantae, who was undeterred in her effort to warn Pigma of Jakob's potential facade.
"This is textbook. It's so uncool. Akihiko does this to me all the time. Like it's some offense to have feelings. Don't do it, Pigma."
"Sometimes you overreact..." Akihiko muttered under his breath, lamenting the fact that Shantae made him her boyfriend against his best wishes. The young man seldom returned the favor.
"Master Hand, how's this supposed to work?" Dark Pit asked the giant hand, failing to see what Master Hand hoped to accomplish. "Jakob's gonna keep saying terrible things, and then he's just gonna make lame apologies. And we're back to square one."
"Do you want an apology? Here it goes," said Jakob, ready to prove himself to everyone as he cleared his throat. "Pigma, I am so sorry. You are skinny, and you are a genius."
"That...that was maybe too much," Master Hand offered his two cents, regretting that he didn't prevent Jakob from speaking lies. But Pigma was satisfied nonetheless with what Jakob said. "Jakob is a survivor of a divorce, Ken. Jakob doesn't speak with his child, Bowser. Jakob never lived up to his parent's expectations, Byleth. Corrin loves Dumbledore, and Jakob loves..."
"Don't you dare say his name!" Corrin shouted at Master Hand as he covered his hands over Kana's ears. Mr. He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was a huge deal to the prince of Nohr.
"I was going to say Hagrid! Okay, you know what, this is over. The apology has been issued! And we're through with it. Jakob will be here until he's welcomed back to Nohr, in until he finds a place to stay...or until the day he dies, just like the rest of us. With a few minor exceptions."
With his laptop now broken beyond repair, Fox met with Samus outside near a dumpster so that he could receive a new device. Samus came through for Fox as she had a new laptop box in her possession.
"So listen, we have to really scuff this up," Samus said to Fox, needing to scratch up the new laptop a bit so that it wouldn't look too brand new.
"No no no no no!" Fox said with Samus, with a different idea in mind - one that didn't involve any destruction. "We can say that the previous owner was a neat freak. Or an elegant old lady and she just kept it around in case her grandkids came to visit, but they died and they never came, I think I'm gonna make myself cry."
"Fox, this is the deal we made." Samus went ahead and got started, as she scraped the laptop against the dumpster. Got plenty of scratches on it so far.
"That's probably good. That's enough."
"We should break this hinge maybe."
"Let's not go crazy."
Barbara the Bat was one heck of a guitarist, as she was adept at playing her guitar. Albeit loudly. She had planned on doing some guitar lessons to hone her skills, but she ran into a problem...her phone was missing! She couldn't do her lessons without her phone, so she snooped around the tower looking for it.
"Well thanks, will do," Jakob's voice was heard - and it was heard from Shadow and Knuckles' room. A curious Barbara furrowed her brow, as she peeked inside the room and saw Shadow and Knuckles on the phone.
"Absolutely, now when you get down there, Garon's a little bit, uh, forgetful," Knuckles spoke into a phone while speaking in a fake British accent. Looked a lot like Barbara's phone. "So he may have locked the gate, but what you're gonna do is go ahead, hop it, and just head back to the courtyard."
"That sounds weird. Almost as weird as you somehow owning a phone."
"It is weird! Look at you, perceptive. Now I know why Garon's kept his eye on you!"
Knuckles: Do people from the Nohrian royal family speak with an accent? Do they even have phones over there? Oh well, Jakob probably isn't smart enough to get a clue.
Shadow: Come to think of it, feeding Jakob that poison wouldn't have been a bad idea...I just wish that I could kill Jakob without any repercussions. Crazy Hand can't keep me down forever.
"I suppose so," Jakob continued his phone conversation in the foyer, as he was speaking with who he believed was a royal family member on the mansion's house phone. "It was nice speaking with you, Xander...hello, Xander? You there? He hung up on me, unbelievable..."
As Jakob hung up the phone, he heard someone knocking at the door. The butler answered the door and was stunned to see who was standing on the porch with Sonic - the detective duo of Layton and Luke.
"Good evening, Jakob!" Luke happily greeted the butler, who hesitated from returning the favor as he took a step back. Bad memories of episode 96 were playing out in Jakob's head.
"I can assure you that we're not here to arrest you," Layton assured Jakob, who greeted the butler by tipping his hat towards him. His warm smile was also enough to quell Jakob's fears.
"Then what are you here for?" inquired Jakob, wondering why Sonic was with Layton and Luke after all that time the blue hedgehog spent dissing the two. "And why is Sonic with you?"
"Sonic told us that you were looking for a place to stay until you were free to go back home. We have a spot in town calling your name."
"That's fine and dandy, but I got off the phone with Xander and he said that I can return to Nohr. Got no clue as to how he even obtained a phone, but..."
"Why did you and Shadow steal my phone?!" Barbara was heard shouting, as Jakob and company saw Barbara chasing after Knuckles in the front yard. "Impersonating a member of Corrin's family, really?"
"My phone was charging, okay?" Knuckles said to Barbara, who was so incensed with the echidna that she threw her guitar at him. Knuckles dodged it. "Shadow wouldn't even turn his on..."
"...on second thought, tell me more about this living situation," Jakob said to Layton and Luke; Sonic gave Layton and Luke all the time to explain away, as he went to go help Knuckles out.
Jakob: Apparently, as soon as Layton and Luke discovered that I was in Seattle, they offered me to stay in a guest room in a previously foreclosed house. And here's the catch. The house is now owned by some red squirrel named Conker, who according to Layton has a bit of a drinking problem. Thankfully for me, I've decided to become sober.
Dovahkiin: *pumps fist* YES! I got my room back. But only eventually, though. That lousy butler is moving out, which means that I can return to harassing Gil as much as I please. I know that Gil must be happy.
Gil: *sighs deeply* Thanks a lot, Professor Layton...
Stoked about having a new laptop, Fox ran back to the mansion's library and plugged in his device. The pilot acted as if he got a bad laptop,
"Samus, how is this thing even any better than my old laptop?" Fox asked the bounty hunter, who was at the library checking out a book. Samus was playing along with Fox's shenanigans.
"Come on Fox! I mean you said you wanted a new laptop and this is the best I could do!" Samus snapped at Fox, showing a slightly uncharacteristic angry side of her that not many residents were used to seeing.
"Where'd you even find this thing, like, in the corner in the basement?"
"Yes, I found it on a shelf in the corner of the basement."
"Alright, well thank you for my garbage laptop." So Fox turned on his laptop, looking heavily satisfied as the startup screen appeared on the monitor.
With Jakob agreeing to stay in the guest room at Conker's house, the butler thought that Master Hand, Link, and Zelda deserved to know about where he would be staying at. So he met with the three in Master Hand's room to give them the good news.
"So yes, I will be staying with Conker...for better and for worse," Jakob said to Master Hand and company, hoping that his stay was temporary.
"Will you be hosting cocktail parties?" asked Master Hand, knowing the kind of person that Conker was; he expected Jakob to pick up on the squirrel's traits. "Will we be invited?"
"If anyone is having such a party, it'll be Conker. And since that I'm fully sober, I won't indulge myself in such debauchery."
"Wonder if Jakob will talk Conker's head off about how great it is to be sober," Link whispered to Zelda, thinking that Jakob might go down the Falco path. Zelda giggled silently in response, as Jakob saw the princess and furrowed his brow.
"As I said, this is only temporary. If I ever offended anyone during my stay here, then let them know that I am sorry."
"Will do, you have our word," Master Hand said to Jakob, who nodded his head as he left Master Hand's room. "Don't get too drunk with Conker." That got Jakob to groan, as the butler left the room altogether.
Fox's laptop supposedly being found in the mansion's basement was news to Anna, once said news reached Anna's ears. Anna spoke with Samus that evening, curious as to how Samus even discovered the laptop.
"So this new laptop you found in the basement..." Anna spoke with Samus with a finger up to her mouth, as Samus was in the workshop putting some last-minute touches on her weaponry before dinner.
"Yep - lucked out," replied Samus, working away as she was screaming until she couldn't screw no more. Or at least until her arm got tired.
"Yeah, you really did. 'Cause I know every INCH of that basement."
"Yep, super lucky. Might be because of the Luck Incense on my nightstand."
"Maybe you could go run the shop for me. Or we could run it together!"
"Don't push your luck..." Balking on Anna's offer, Samus stopped screwing as she was all done working. The bounty hunter put her materials away, as Anna made a pouting face.
Samus: *shrugs* I'm full-on corrupt.
Jakob hadn't moved into the new house just yet - Conker still had to work out some financial stuff. So until then, the butler was free to stay at the mansion as the residents were forced to stomach his presence.
"Are you really, truly sorry?" Mario spoke with Jakob, who was standing near the lake that evening gazing into the distance. Mario needed confirmation that Jakob turned over a new leaf.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be welcomed here," replied Jakob, not sure how many times he had to express his innocence. He had done it so many times today. "Eggman was given a pardon, was he not?"
"Heh, you're right-a about that...sorry for bothering you." Convinced, Mario walked away from Jakob, turning his head around as he kept a close eye on the butler. Who knows if Jakob might revert to his old ways?
With Mario gone, Jakob was alone outside. But that time alone wouldn't last for long though; a certain jester appeared in Jakob's midst, making an appearance once Mario was inside his house.
"Like two lovers on a second date, we have linked up yet again!" said the jester, Dimentio, happy and cheery as he typically was. Jakob pinched the crown of his nose when he heard Dimentio.
"How did you even find me..." groaned Jakob, rubbing his hand down his face as he forced himself to give Dimentio his uninvited attention. "...look, I wish to have no part of your pact."
"Oh is that so? I helped you be released from jail, and this is how you repay me?"
"Asking the jail to release me was swell, I won't lie, but I have learned my lesson. I'm not..."
"I've seen you in that documentary footage...you can be a real asset to your team. Think about it!"
"I don't need to think about it...I've already made up my mind." Tired of speaking with Dimentio, Jakob retreated back to the mansion. Dimentio watched as Jakob left, snapping his fingers in disgust.
"Haha, Wario is an absolute trip!" giggled Magolor as he approached Dimentio, watching something on the laptop that was stolen back in episode 322. Magolor could tell that Dimentio was disappointed. "How did it go?"
"Jakob is still playing hardball, I see..." remarked Dimentio, whose disappointment only lasted for a short while as his smile made its return. "...but no matter! We can always find someone to take his place."
"Right on, Dimentio." Magolor raised his fist for Dimentio, who vanished away without warning. Left all alone, Magolor panicked as he closed the laptop and looked for somewhere to run off to. "Hey, you can't ditch me like that! C'mon!"